Chapter 503 Battle of Camp Nou

Barcelona played two rounds in La Liga while Liverpool were training secretly in Portugal to prepare for the Camp Nou battle, while also stocking up for the second half of the competition.

First at home against Sporting Santander, Ronaldinho scored twice and Deco contributed an assist.

Two Brazilian players performed very well and won unanimous praise.

Messi replaced Saviola in the 68th minute. This is his first appearance for Barcelona after two and a half months away. The entire Camp Nou sent warm applause and cheers for Messi. Voice.

After Messi played, Eto'o, who was also out for three months due to injury, appeared on the sidelines to warm up, which immediately cheered the Nou Camp fans. Everyone was looking forward to the key game before the team ushered in Liverpool. , able to assemble the strongest troops.

With the comeback of Messi and Eto'o, Ronaldinho scored twice to regain his form, and Barcelona is expected to advance.

But when the game reached the 87th minute, when Rijkaard made his last substitution, he originally planned to use Eto'o to replace Belletti, and when the Cameroon striker went up to find his state, Eto'o refused. Appearance.

Soon, Rijkaard replaced Belletti with Oleg.

At the press conference after the game, the media in Catalonia asked why Eto'o was not arranged to play. The Barcelona coach directly stated that this is the choice of the Cameroonian players.

"He didn't want to play, I don't know why, and he didn't tell me beforehand, which made me very unhappy and regretful because in my opinion every minute of the game is very important."

At the same time, Rijkaard also responded to Valdes and Oleg.

The Barcelona goalkeeper performed well in this game and saved a penalty, which allowed him to survive the crisis of confidence. Rijkaard said that the club will not sell Valdes because he is an important member of the team.

Oleg was previously terminated by the club's sponsor because he criticized Spain's judicial system for writing in the media, and he became a political news figure, but he was still on the bench in this game, and Rijkaard said he didn't care. Politics, just about football.

After scoring twice, Ronaldinho was in a good mood. When interviewed by the media, he said that he understood Eto'o's choice of refusing to appear in garbage time, but he also made a subtle criticism.

"Before doing everything, it depends on the players and the specific situation, but the most important thing is to consider what is best for the team."

After the game, the media in Catalonia unearthed the inside story. The reason why Eto'o refused to play was because Rijkaard promised him half an hour of game time before the game, but it turned out to be only five. minutes, he was dissatisfied.

Because of Rijkaard's first substitution, it gave the French winger Giuli.

After the press conference event, the media all over the world have heard the news, and things have intensified.

Barcelona, ​​from the chairman to the ordinary players, expressed their opinions on this matter one after another, hoping that Rijkaard and Eto'o could reconcile and prepare for the upcoming Camp Nou war.

But what is unexpected is that Eto'o then held a press conference and publicly bombarded Rijkaard and Ronaldinho, believing that their remarks disregarded the facts and deeply hurt him, and commented that They are bad people.

At the same time, Eto'o also said that Barcelona has been divided from management to the dressing room.

The management team, led by Laporta, and the two groups led by vice-chairman Roselle, were fighting hard, and in the locker room, some of the practices of Brazilian players such as Ronaldinho were unsatisfactory.

"To say publicly in a press conference that I refuse to play is a villain, it's not a thing, it's a shame to say that, in fact, every minute counts for me." Eto Auer fired back at Rijkaard.

As for Ronaldinho, Eto'o said, "If my teammates say I should think about the team, I think he is the one who should think about the team more. A lot of people find it hard to accept."

Eto'o's press conference quickly caused an uproar around the world, and the Cameroon striker ruthlessly tore apart Barcelona's internal contradictions and exposed them to the world.

The World Sports Daily used [Eto'o stabbed Barcelona on the second day! ] As a front page headline, it is believed that Cameroon's remarks made Rijkaard lose face and lose all his majesty as a head coach.

But on the same day, Rijkaard and Laporta met in the restaurant.

The next day, Barcelona officials said that Eto'o reached a settlement with Rijkaard and Ronaldinho.

...

A week later, Barcelona played away to Valencia.

Eto'o did not appear in the competition squad.

The game was very intense after the start of the game. It was not until the 53rd minute of the second half that Valencia broke the deadlock on the field. Villa made a cross from the left side of the penalty area and Angulo scored a goal.

Two minutes later, Valencia further expanded the score, Angulo made a cross from the right side of the penalty area, and David Silva scored.

Two goals behind, Barcelona's players were a little out of control.

In the 61st minute, Messi, who had just replaced Good Johnson, was shoveled to the ground by Valencia's midfielder Albelda. As a result, Deco quickly gave a retaliatory tackle to knock Albelda. Shovel to the ground.

There was a dispute between the two sides. The players of the two teams confronted each other and pushed each other. The referee played 50 rebounds each and sent Albelda and Deco red cards.

Subsequently, Barcelona did not score until the 92nd minute with a direct free kick from Ronaldinho.

But in the end they lost 1-2 away.

With 72 percent of the ball in possession, Barcelona could never find the key to breaking Valencia's defense.

Many media reporters and fans are also very worried, because three days later, the team will face Liverpool.

How to repel incoming enemies at Camp Nou when the offense is weak?

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When the haze gradually shrouded the sky over the city of Barcelona, ​​Liverpool were comfortably preparing for the game in the Algarve region of Portugal, and everything that happened in Spain would be passed on to Portugal as soon as possible.

The club's chief scouts, Edu Aldo Marcia and Frank McPalan, are both tracking Barcelona's games and sending in video footage and analysis.

Benitez and the coaching staff, especially the tactical analyst Dave McDonough, will analyze the Barcelona situation at the first time, and immediately make a prediction and formulate targeted strategies in the subsequent training.

For example, Benitez is pretty sure that Messi will start!

"There is no doubt that the next game at Camp Nou will be against the best team in the world."

On the training ground, Benitez warned his players very seriously.

"It's a star-studded team, Ronaldinho, Deco, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi...even Eto'o might start in this game, if we If you want to get rid of your opponent, you have to give your full attention to the game, and it has to be everyone!"

After a week of training and adjustment, every Liverpool player is in high spirits and eager to play.

That is the defending Champions League champion Barcelona!

Yang Yang stood in a row with his teammates, and his eyes were full of desire and fighting spirit.

In last year's Champions League semi-final, he and Ajax suffered a crushing defeat at Camp Nou and were eliminated.

In that game, Yang Yang was suspended for accumulating yellow cards, but he was sitting in the stands at the time and witnessed his teammates being beaten very badly by Barcelona.

Now, his chance for revenge has come!

Liverpool this season is stronger than Ajax last year, so he has more confidence.

...

In Barcelona's tactics, the flanks have a very important role to play.

Ronaldinho and Messi will start, and these two players are reverse-footed wingers who are best at cutting inside.

Ronaldinho is on the left, and he is opposite Liverpool's right-back Finnan.

Benitez reminded Finnan that Ronaldinho is best at creating kills between midfield and defense, so he must focus on Ronaldinho and not give him any opportunities , be sure to keep an eye on and jam his run.

But in this way, Liverpool's wing will be let out, and Zambrotta will attack from the wing, so this requires Kuyt to suppress Zambrotta on the right.

As for Messi on the right, Benitez gave up Riise and Aurelio and chose Abeloa because the Spanish defender played the left back and he was right footed.

A right-footed left-back can be more effective at defending Messi's left foot when cutting inside, especially his pull-ups and breakthroughs.

Abeloa's task is to stick to Messi and keep him busy.

But the Spanish defender has just arrived, and this will be his first start on behalf of Liverpool. Benitez and the coaching staff have spent a lot of effort, specifically studying a series of methods for Abeloa to mark Messi, and carry out a test on him. Targeted training.

For example, let Yang Yang play the role of Messi and conduct one-on-one special training with Abeloa during the game, which made Abeloa suffer, but from this special training, he found some marking Messi. a feeling of.

In addition to this, Benitez also asked that when the ball is in the middle and back, the passing to Abeloa should be minimized because he is right-footed at left-back and can be dangerous when stopping the ball. It will reduce the team's counterattack speed.

Barcelona's attacking style is very erratic, because their players have excellent personal ability, in addition to the wings, the middle is also very important, so Benitez also attaches great importance to the defense of Barcelona's midfield.

For the sake of safety, the coaching staff decided to start Mohamed Sissoko with Gerrard and Xavi Alonso.

The Malian has just returned from injury, but Mascherano is a newcomer. In contrast, Liverpool is more concerned with the overall tactics of the team in this game, so they chose the Mali midfielder.

After working out the tactics, Liverpool trained secretly in Portugal for two more days before arriving in Barcelona the afternoon before the game.

The Camp Nou battle is about to start!